The Vodacom Bulls and Sharks target crucial wins in Europe, while the Lions and Stormers are licking their lips for a run of four home matches when the Vodacom URC resumes this week.

The BULLS are into week three of a tour that began with Challenge Cup playoff matches against Bayonne (won 32-22) and Edinburgh (lost 34-28), but it’s the next fortnight that really matters to coach Jake White as they chase a top-two URC log finish and possible home semi-final.

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The Herd trampled Zebre 63-24 at Loftus in the previous round to remain third, five points clear of the Sharks and four behind Glasgow. On Saturday, they meet fifth-placed Munster, who have a 50% record in this season’s competition but showed what they are capable of by winning their Champions Cup round-of-16 match at La Rochelle.

The last time these teams met, at Loftus in April 2024, Munster fought back from 22-17 down to win 27-22, with the turning point a second-half red card to Bulls flyhalf Johan Goosen. The Irish club also won the previous encounter in Limerick (31-17) in October 2022.

Coach John Plumtree gambled (and lost) the SHARKS’ Challenge Cup title defence in a bid to recharge his first-choice team for URC matches at Edinburgh and Ulster.

And those big guns are under big pressure to deliver, having lost to Leinster’s second-stringers at Kings Park two weeks ago. The Sharks remain fourth on the URC log, but the chasing pack was able to close the gap, with Munster now just six points behind them.

The Sharks are set to be boosted by four returning Springboks – lock Eben Etzebeth, scrumhalf Grant Williams, centre Lukhanyo Am and fullback Aphelele Fassi – as they go all out for a top-two finish.

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Edinburgh, meanwhile, are coming off two big Challenge Cup playoff wins against SA teams and in Sean Everitt they have a head coach who knows the Sharks better than most, having worked in Durban for 14 years.

Plumtree holds bragging rights over Everitt with two victories at Kings Park last season (23-13 in the URC and 36-30 in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals) but this is the first time the coaches will go head-to-head on Scottish soil.

Tour defeats to Cardiff (20-17) and Glasgow (42-0) last month saw the LIONS plummet from eighth on the URC log to 14th and they are now six points outside the playoffs.

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The good news for coach Cash van Rooyen, after the loss to Edinburgh in the Challenge Cup round of 16, is that the Lions have a relatively soft schedule of four home matches to end the league phase, against Benetton (seventh on the log), Connacht (13th), Scarlets (11th) and Ospreys (12th). One slip up, though, and the Pride’s hopes of making the URC playoffs for the first time could be dashed.

Benetton have a good record against the Lions in Treviso, having won last season’s Challenge Cup round-of-16 playoff 27-17, but the Lions triumphed 37-29 in the only fixture between the teams at Ellis Park, in April 2022.

The STORMERS return to action after a two-week break having missed out on the European cup playoffs.

In their last outing, against Ulster in Belfast, John Dobson’s team let a 17-point lead slip to lose 38-34 and drop to 10th on the URC log. But they are just one point outside the playoffs and now have a four-match home run, against Connacht (currently 13th on the log), Benetton (7th), Dragons (16th) and Cardiff (9th). The Stormers should be expected to win all four, but even three victories may be enough to secure a place in the quarter-finals.

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First up in Cape Town are Connacht, who lost 30-24 to Munster in the previous round of the URC (they then beat Cardiff in the Challenge Cup round of 16 before losing narrowly to Racing 92 in Saturday’s quarter-finals).

The Stormers have won both of their home URC matches against the Irish club (38-15 in 2022 and 43-25 in the 2023 semi-final) as well as their previous clash in Galway last season (16-12).

Round 14 results:
Ulster 38 Stormers 34
Edinburgh 38 Dragons 5
Bulls 63 Zebre 24
Connacht 24 Munster 30
Scarlets 38 Ospreys 22
Sharks 7 Leinster 10
Benetton 20 Cardiff 19
Glasgow 42 Lions 0

Round 15 fixtures:
Friday
Edinburgh vs Sharks (8.35pm)
Saturday
Lions vs Benetton (1.45pm)
Stormers vs Connacht (4pm)
Ospreys vs Cardiff (4pm)
Munster vs Bulls (6.15pm)
Dragons vs Scarlets (6.30pm)
Leinster vs Ulster (8.35pm)
Zebre vs Glasgow (8.35pm)

Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images